Themed ornaments with internet radio receiver

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses for playing signals received from the internet or other information highway on one or more speakers are described. The apparatus has a receiver for receiving information from preselected addresses; a processor for interpreting the signals; and several speakers for playing the processed signals. The speakers each have an ornamental design on the outside which is related to the topic of the signals received from the address. The apparatus could include a smartphone as the receiver.

This application is a continuation-in-part under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/856,795, filed on Apr. 4, 2013, which isa continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/331,469filed on Dec. 20, 2011 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,467,722 issued Jun. 18,2013), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/180,901 filed Jul. 28, 2008 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,099,039 issuedJan. 17, 2012), which claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/954,879,filed Aug. 9, 2007, the entirety of all of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application relates to the field of internet receivers that arecapable of receiving Internet radio signals. More specifically, thisapplication relates to speakers and video screens that relate to aspecific station that is received through these devices by Bluetooth,Wi-Fi or Wi-Max. It is also noted that one Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or Wi-MaxInternet receiver may be used to supply signals to multiple speakers andscreens.

Internet Radio Stations are easy to broadcast and with Wi-Fi and Wi-Maxcan be transmitted to virtually every part of the world. In fact, theproblem is that so many stations are available on the Internet that itis hard for them to get traction. It is hard for those stations to gettraffic even when they have been “selected” for AOL Radio or another“brand” name. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an InternetRadio player which can help an Internet Radio Station gain market share.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to Internet Radio receivers that areawirelessly connected to speakers and screens that have a pre-set theme.The theme may be of any number of topics. For example, one speaker couldbe set for a Christmas theme, another speaker for a garden theme,another for a spa theme, etc. These speakers can be placed around a homein appropriate areas, such as near a Christmas tree, in the garden andin the bathroom, respectively. Thus, music and programming appropriateto the theme of the room or area is played through each speakerautomatically. Each speaker is configured with an amplifier and amicroprocessor that causes the receiver to send signals from only apre-set number of thematically appropriate stations or playlists thatare saved in a database or streamed from the internet to the receiver.

The receiver has a processor that connects to an address on the internetor other information highway. The receiver is wirelessly connected tothe speakers or video screens via either Wifi, or BLUETOOTH® technology.Any connection to the internet, however, can be used. The internetreceiver can be incorporated into a mobile telephone. The receiver alsoincorporates a transmitter to transmit the internet signals to thevarious speakers, with a different internet signal being transmitted toeach speaker or screen.

The receiver has a processor that connects to one of a plurality ofpreselected addresses on the internet or other information highway. Theapparatus also has an interface for selecting the one of the pluralityof preselected addresses. The preselected addresses are related to thethemes of the various speakers and screens. For example, on a mobiletelephone with internet capability, the mobile telephone could have aplurality of applications that relate to internet radio stationsinstalled on it. Selecting one of the applications causes the mobiletelephone to communicate with the speaker that corresponds to the themeof the radio station or internet site and cause that speaker to play thecontent of the selected site.

The speakers have exterior ornamentation that correlates with the themeof the content being played. For example, if the speaker is a gardentheme, it could be designed to look like a rock or a plant. If thespeaker is a Christmas theme, it could be designed as an ornament orother type of Christmas decoration. For a bathroom theme, the speakercould be built into a shower head or light fixture, or could be aseparate item with a decorative appearance.

The appearance could also be configured via lighting or holographicdisplays emanating from the speaker, instead of a permanent physicalconfiguration. For example, turning on the power to the speaker couldcause colored lights to emanate from the speaker in a way the matchesthe theme of the speaker. As an example, a patriotic themed speakerwould display red, white and blue light. Alternatively, each speakercould be equipped with a display screen that displays a picturecorresponding to the theme of the audio being played.

Within each theme, the user can customize the mood of the material beingbroadcast. For example, the software application on the mobile telephoneallows the user to select one of a variety of internet radio stationsfor playback on an individual speaker, within the theme of the speaker.For example with the Christmas speaker, several different radio stationscould be offered: Pop music, classical, easy listening, childrens, etc.,all playing Christmas music.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an Internet Radio broadcastreceiving station;

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment where a smartphone communicates wirelesslywith a speaker for broadcasting the radio.

FIG. 3 shows the system according to the invention with several speakershaving different ornamentation;

FIG. 4 shows the user interface of the mobile telephone displaying theconnected speakers; and

FIG. 5 shows the user interface displaying the various options for radiostations for a single speaker.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a”, “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the contextclearly indicates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a radio”includes a combination of two or more radios, and the like.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, “internet” refersnot only to the internet, but also to any wide area network or localarea network. Use of the term “internet” is not intended to limit thepresent invention to communications received via the world wide web.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, “pre-selected”means that the internet radio address, or URL, has been programmed intothe radio. The pre-selected address may be a default address, or aselection of addresses to which the user can set the radio to default.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, a “speaker” meansany sound emitting device and is not limited to standardelectromechanical transducer type speakers. Non-limiting examples ofsuitable speakers are piezoelectric speakers, electrostatic speakers,flat panel speakers and digital speakers.

As used in the specification and the appended claims, a “smartphone” isa mobile telephone equipped with internet capability.

As used in the specification and the appended claims, an “application”or “app” is a software program installed on a smartphone, which canperform certain functions directly or is used to directly connect thesmartphone to an internet-based program via a link on the display screenof the smartphone.

Referring to FIG. 1, one or more Internet Radio Broadcasters 10 a, 10 band 10 c, provide electronic signals through the internet 12. Thesignals can be received by a combination Wi-Fi/Wi-Max receiver/radio 16and played by multiple speakers 18 a, 18 b and 18 c. The receiver 16 hasa processor 15 and a user interface 17 for controlling the preselectedstations, as well as volume from each of the speakers. The processorassigns each one of internet radio stations 10 a, 10 b, 10 c to one ofspeakers 18 a, 18 b, 18 c so that each speaker plays a different radiostation. The receiver 16 is wirelessly connected to the internet orother information highway. In a preferred embodiment, thereceiver/processor/interface are embodied in a smartphone 60, shown inFIG. 2.

The receiver 16 connects to the internet or other information highwayand the processor 15 directs the receiver to a preselected address onthe internet or other information highway. The outside of each of thespeakers 18 a, 18 b, 18 c has an ornamental design related to the topicof the signals received from the preselected address on the internet orother information highway. Each speaker 18 a-18 c plays a differentchannel and the ornamental design matches the theme of the signals beingplayed.

Detailed embodiments of the invention have a processor 15 that connectsto a plurality of preselected addresses on the internet or otherinformation highway. The apparatus also has an interface 17 allowing theuser to control various aspects of each of the speakers such as volumeand channel selection within the theme of the speaker.

The ornamental design of some embodiments may be selected from the groupconsisting of: holiday themes, garden themes, spa themes, patrioticthemes, sports, etc. The ornamental design of the speaker may be arepresentation of an edifice, a character, a piece of art or othersimilar representation. The apparatus defaults to an internet radiostation which is correlated with the ornamental design when power issupplied to the speaker.

FIG. 2 shows a speaker 20 according to one or more embodiments of theinvention. The speaker 20 shown has an ornamental design related tofootball. The user can supply power to the speaker by either connectionof a power cord 23 to a standard power outlet or by battery power (notshown). Any buttons and dials on the speaker can be shaped in accordancewith the ornamental design. For example, the user may power the speaker20 by pressing a power button 25, shown as a football-shaped button.

The speaker 20 is programmed with a specific internet radio stationcontrolled by the processor 15 in smartphone 60. This radio station willact as a default station related to the ornamental design. Here, thespeaker 20 may tune to an internet radio station associated with theNational Football League, or a station that broadcast college footballgames. The user may be able program smartphone 60 to add additionalinternet radio stations via an application that can be downloaded tosmartphone 60.

Once powered, speaker 20 is designed to broadcast the default internetradio station. The mobile phone 60 communicates via WiFi or other methodto speaker 20 or via a wired connection 23 using, for example, anEthernet connection to a computer or an internet appliance, USB,IEEE-1394, serial, parallel, or any other suitable connection.

The speaker 20 can also have a screen 29 which can display informationrelated to the theme of the internet radio station that is beingbroadcast. For example, the screen 29 can display a football themedgraphic, a picture of a prominent player or any other graphic that isrelated to the content of the station being played. Screen 29 can beplaced on a speaker 20 even without extra ornamentation, so that thedisplay 24 is the only ornamentation to indicate the theme of thespeaker. The ornamentation displayed by screen 24 is transmitted tospeaker 20 from smartphone 60. The software application installed insmartphone 60 connects to a database with graphics that match the topicbeing transmitted, and transmits these graphics to the screen 24.

FIG. 3 shows the system according to the invention with severaldifferent themed speakers. Smartphone 60, which contains the receiver15, processor 15 and user interface 17 to select the radio stations, iswirelessly connected via Wifi or other means to multiple speakers 31,32, 33, 34, which are positioned at various locations around a user'shome or business. Each one of speakers 31-34 has a different physicalappearance, which coordinates with the theme of the internet radiostation that is synched with the speaker. For example, speaker 32 isdesigned as a Christmas tree topper and is set to play Christmas musicfrom Christmas radio stations. Speaker 33 is designed as a plant and isset to default to music or sounds that would be suitable for a garden.For example, speaker 33 could play bird sounds. Speaker 34 is designedas a fountain and is set to play music or sounds with a spa theme.Speaker 31 is a regular box-type speaker, but when powered on emitscolored lights in a theme coordinated with the radio station beingplayed. For example, speaker 31 could default to patriotic-themed radiostations and emit red, white and blue light. The speakers can beconfigured so that upon connecting the speakers wirelessly to thesmartphone 60, the speakers automatically default to the respectivepreprogrammed radio stations. Processor 15 inside of mobile telephone 60recognizes an identifying signal from each of the speakers 31-34 whenthe speakers are connected, which then directs processor 15 to thedesignated preselected radio stations that correspond to the ornamentalappearance of each speaker.

The present invention allows a user to customize a whole house audiosystem with ornamental speakers that play different thematic programmingin each room. The software loaded on the mobile telephone allows theuser to create a custom audio experience by selecting the ornamentalspeakers to be connected via a mobile telephone. A software applicationloaded onto mobile telephone creates the user interface 17 that allowsthe user view and control the speakers associated with the application,as shown in FIG. 4. The software recognizes each of the speakers and itscorresponding theme, to direct the proper radio station to each speaker.As shown in FIG. 4, the user interface 17 displays via icons 40 all ofthe speakers that are connected wirelessly to the mobile phone. The usercan touch the icon 40 of any of the speakers to further customize theplaying experience.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the software could offer a selection ofdifferent radio stations for each of the themes. For example, with theChristmas themed speaker 32, the software could be configured to allowthe user to select one icon 40 of the Christmas speaker, which thenleads to a display of several different Christmas station icons 50,based on the mood of the user. The user can then pick one of the icons50 for play through speaker 32.

The various embodiments and aspects of the invention described here canbe employed individually or in conjunction with other embodiments andaspects. Descriptions of individual aspects and embodiments does notpreclude the inclusion of other aspects, embodiments or additionalstructural components.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the detailsof construction or process steps set forth in the following description.The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced orbeing carried out in various ways.

While there have been shown, described and pointed out fundamental novelfeatures of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments or aspectsthereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutionsand changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in itsoperation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to belimited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for playing signals received from theinternet or other information highway on several speakerssimultaneously, comprising: an internet radio device comprising: areceiver that connects to the internet or other information highway; anda processor in the receiver that is programmed to connect to preselectedaddresses on the internet or other information highway; a user interfacethat is configured for allowing a user to control processes of theprocessor; and a plurality of speakers configured for connecting to thesmartphone, the speakers being adapted to play signals received from theinternet by the receiver, each of the speakers having an ornamentaldesign that is related to a topic of the signals received from one ofthe preselected addresses on the internet or other information highway,wherein connecting the smartphone to the speakers causes the smartphoneto default to the preselected Internet addresses related to the topicsof the ornamental designs, and wherein each speaker has a differentornamental design and each speaker is configured to default to adifferent internet address than the remaining speakers, such that eachspeaker plays signals from a different internet address simultaneously.2. The system of claim 1, wherein the receiver wirelessly connects tothe internet or other information highway.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the receiver wirelessly connects to the internet or otherinformation highway via a Wi-Fi connection.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the ornamental design is a colored light display.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the ornamental design comprises a display screen anda graphic displayed on the display screen that coordinates with thepreselected address played by the speaker.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the user interface is configured for allowing the user to selectan internet radio station from among a group of preselected radiostations for each speaker.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein theInternet radio device is a smartphone.